Gabapentinoids Gabapentin causing PVCs/Heart Arrhythmia / Palpitations????

[Jen X]

50mg, uncommon but does happen

 

[DeathIndustrial88]

Hey Deathindustrial, I'm sorry you are dealing with the heart bullshit (and the doctors not listening bullshit). I'll be forthright and tell you that like many real life medical issues, yours isn't clear cut and is confusing; I'll probably not clear up much, but I've read a few articles from when I saw this on Friday, and I may be able to share some of the confusion.

Starting with the physiology of PVCs, they seem (according to wiki, citing a cardiac physiology book) to often be caused by excessive cyclic AMP (cAMP) signalling leading to excessive calcium release. This is often caused by drugs which act on norepinephrine receptors to produce cAMP, or drugs which inhibit it's breakdown such as caffiene. Lists of drugs causing PVCs include many different drugs working along these pathways, and don't primarily cite drugs that fuck with ion channels.

Now gabapentin fucks with ion channels, but in a weird way. It interacts with calcium channels, but unlike the many calcium channel blockers, which block the channel pore that transmits calcium into the cell (often of a specific channel class like L-type, N-type, P/Q-type, or R-type).

Gabapentin on the other hand binds to α2δ subunits, which are found in all of these channels. It also doesn't block the channels, instead it messes up their trafficking, causing them to both not get inserted into the cell membrane (instead residing in processing organelles) or to mislocalize. Cells cluster proteins together to respond to a given stimulus (like calcium influx from a calcium channel). Their response often depends in downstream effector proteins nearby, and if any proteins involved are not near one another, the cells won't function properly.

Because gabapentin hits so many different channel types, which are expressed over a wide range of tissue (and cell) types, it is hard to narrow down if there is a specific interaction in the heart (or elsewhere) that contributes to PVCs.

At the end of the day, I think it is always good to do the experiment, and see if something is causing you trouble by taking some time off from it. Knowing if it correlates with gabapentin use is going to be a lot more valuable than knowing a few things about the physiology of it all.

Very interesting to know!

I found this post on reddit the other day. The OP speaks Spanish, so they might not be articulating themselves the best way in English, but they too were having palpitations form gabapentin & mentioned this -

"I have a very bad palpitations using gabapentin and pregabalin, in the accute effects (during the positive effects). Gabapentin has less effect in my heart than pregabalin. Phenibut and baclofen has no effect. I research alot about this and... Pregabalin is known to cause heart failure in some patients. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3655846/ And there are a lot of report of heart side effects, including health alert: http://english.prescrire.org/en/5150B1C7E49B41EE113DCC4756EAE06D/Download.aspx Alpha-2-delta (gabapentin receptor) is located in heart and brain in high quantities: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/11306709 It is known that alpha-2-delta disruption cause arrythmias. And it is known that this receptor disfunction cause heart problems in humans. Disfunction is upregulation or downregulation, excesive agonism, and excesive antagonist. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/gene?Db=gene&Cmd=DetailsSearch&Term=93589 And, in erowid, there are reports of pregabalin heart arrythmia with hospital visit and diagnos Do you also suffer from this? Any way to antagonize alpha2delta in the periphery? Taurine doesnt work, I will try with isoleucine. I like gabapentin/pregabalin effects!"



That person is trying to find an antagonist to stop the binding from alpha2delta, so that they can still take gabapentin without the palpitations. But some one in the comments explains to them that even if they did, using an antagonist would just block the gabapentins effects anyway, which makes sense.

I don't know if what all they're saying is accurate, but they did provide some sources. It sounds plausible though I guess. And they seem to be dealing with a similar problem, along with people in the comments. I found many other posts about palpitations on gabapentin too, but none of them went into a detailed explanation like this one did.

So either it's all one big coincidence or there's possibly something to it.

Gonna stick with the experiment for now. Today is day 4-5 of no gabapentin (last dose I took was 900mg on Thursday evening).
I had no PVCs at all yesterday.

Today I seem to be okay, but I do feel a bit of chest tightness & discomfort like I normally get when I'm having PVCs. Like it almost feels like I'm about to have a PVC every few hours, but then don't actually get one. I think I've felt some really mild ones though.

It's interesting you mentioned norepinephrine.
I got into a bad habit through 2021-2023 of taking ephedrine along side my gabapentin & subs, because all 3 seemed to hit me better than just taking my subs alone.
And the night before these PVCs really got set off back in February, I stupidly popped 50mg of ephedrine. I was feeling pretty bummed that night due to never having access to full agonist opioids. Haven't touched ephedrine since though.

So it could also be possible that something else I took gave me the arrhythmia but the gabapentin just makes it worse. Hard to know for sure quite yet though.

During the weeks that I didn't have any PVCs at all, I did drink a couple of iced coffees & seemed fine with those. So I'm reluctant to just blame caffeine. I never take my caffeine dose higher than 100-150mg in a day. And I've been drinking caffeine since I was 12, so for almost 3 decades.

The ER doc explained to me that you have 2 chambers in your heart that normally send electrical signals back n forth to tell each other to beat & keep your heart in rhythm. But with PVCs, the Purkinje fibers (bottom part of the heart) is sending out a signal to one of the chambers, telling it to beat before it's suppose to. So even though it feels like my heart's skipping beats, it's actually an extra heart beat. But there's not enough blood in the chamber when it gets the signal, so it has to pump harder to sort of reset itself. And I feel this sensation as a "flip flopping" or squeezing at the top of my stomach.

He said they're harmless & that it should go away & blah blah. But it still wasn't very reassuring, especially since it hasn't gone away.
It's really difficult to live like this though. Especially when it happens 30+ times in a day. Constant anxiety about wtf is wrong with me & worrying about sudden cardiac arrest or sudden death.

So my guess is that something is causing there to be too much electricity in my heart or is causing the normal electricity that's in there to get re-routed or misdirected.

I was also told that it's a good thing that I'm able to feel them, because a weak or diseased heart wouldn't be able to pump that hard to cause the sensation.
Still not very reassuring though. lol

I'm also kind of mad at myself, cause I did have those 3 weeks recently where I stopped my gaba & didn't have any PVCs for those 3 weeks. I even thought it was gone by that point & was starting to rememeber how it feels to live PVC-free & without all the anxiety & fear that was accompanying them.

But I knew I had to test it out & take my gabapentin again & now it's back. So it's just very suspicious timing. I wish I hadn't of taken it at all now.

My normal daily drugs are just buprenorphine, (use to be gabapentin too) & weed. And I take klonopin when I really need it. And I usually have a coke or something with a little caffeine when I get up in the morning. I never use meth or any other drugs either, at least not within the last 6-8 months.

I guess all I can do is continue to see if it gets better without gabapentin in the picture.
I think I'll quit gabapentin altogether either way though, after reading about the effects it causes on the heart. Not worth the risk.


I appreciate everyone's responses! I will keep this updated! I may even use this post as some sort of outlet to mentally deal with this shit. PVCs fucking suck & this is my first time ever in my 36 years on this planet dealing with something like this. I honestly hope it's just the gabapentin, cause there's no way I could live with dealing with these things all the time. It puts my anxiety into overdrive & can totally ruin my day.

 

[Skorpio]

I don't really see any results in that first review, they keep talking in the future tense.

The NCBI gene page shows a low level of mRNA expression of the alpha2delta subunit in the heart (but mRNA isn't everything).

Once I have more time I'll see about cracking that paywalled study.

I would have a hard time saying this is a common effect, but if it's happening to you the prevalence isn't going to matter.

From my readings PVCs are not horrible, but it's good to catch up on heart issues quicker.

 

[DeathIndustrial88]

I don't really see any results in that first review, they keep talking in the future tense.

The NCBI gene page shows a low level of mRNA expression of the alpha2delta subunit in the heart (but mRNA isn't everything).

Once I have more time I'll see about cracking that paywalled study.

I would have a hard time saying this is a common effect, but if it's happening to you the prevalence isn't going to matter.

From my readings PVCs are not horrible, but it's good to catch up on heart issues quicker.

Yeah apparently PVCs are suppose to be harmless.
But they still feel scary as hell & send my anxiety into overdrive.

I'm also confused because although they're supposedly harmless, it is possible for PVCs to cause sudden death by cardiac arrest.
So I dunno how something that can cause sudden death is exactly "harmless".

It's more my mental health that's suffering from them, cause I don't get how anyone is suppose to just live a normal life while feeling like their heart is stopping 30, 50 or even more times a day. It's been driving me crazy.


I just saw my sub doc & she said it probably is the gabapentin. And acknowledged it's effects on the heart & said it even makes you retain water because of these effects.
But then she tried talking me into staying on it anyway. lol But my psychiatrist is the one who prescribes it, so I'll talk to her tomorrow about it & see what she says about stopping for awhile.

 

[DeathIndustrial88]

Today's day 4/5 of no gabapentin.

I've had a few PVCs today unfortauntely. But still sticking with the idea that gabapentin had something to do with it.


EDIT : Wrong receptor, disregard this info.

So gabapentin should work to reduce norepinephrine, but ephedrine increases it. So maybe the two together are a bad mix & gave me this heart arrhythmia?

Who knows.
Still seems like a lot of coincidences or signs that gabapentin had something to do with this. Taking anything that works on alpha2delta receptors, along side numerous other drugs, sounds risky regardless.


I saw my psychiatrist today & she had an intern with her & I was explaining about how I think it might be the gabapentin & how gabapentin worked & they were both practically gushing over me knowing that. lol My psyche said her mind is always blown when she sees me because I know so much pharmacology knowledge. Told me I was "brilliant" and how I should go back to school. lol The thing is though is I only really have entry level pharmacology knowledge. lol Mostly from reading things myself & through experience with drugs.

So that's a pretty scary thought if a high-school drop out like me is blowing the minds of people who went to school for this stuff. lol

 

[Skorpio]

Today's day 4/5 of no gabapentin.

I've had a few PVCs today unfortauntely. But still sticking with the idea that gabapentin had something to do with it.


I read this today :

"alpha 2 receptors effects -

[19] The alpha-2 receptor acts as an allosteric inhibitor through Gi function, leading to an inhibition of adenylyl cyclase, decreasing the formation of intracellular cAMP. It also leads to a reduced amount of cytoplasmic calcium, which decreases neurotransmitter release and central vasodilation."

So gabapentin technically reduces cAMP. I wonder if by starting & stopping my gabapentin so often over the years, it could have lead to a rebound in excessive cAMP which causes the PVCs?

Or maybe because I started mixing gabapentin with ephedrine so often, that the two fighting against each other all the time might have threw my heart out of rhythm?

The "central vasodilation" part makes me think that could have something to do with the chest tightness people experience from gabapentin & while having a PVC flare up.

"Mechanism of action…alpha 2 receptor mechanism of action -

Alpha-2 adrenoceptors are implicated in diverse physiological functions in the heart, and presynaptic alpha-2 receptors inhibit the release of norepinephrine and other neurotransmitters in both the central and peripheral nervous systems."

So gabapentin should work to reduce norepinephrine, but ephedrine increases it. So maybe the two together are a bad mix & gave me this heart arrhythmia?

Who knows.
Still seems like a lot of coincidences or signs that gabapentin had something to do with this. Taking anything that works on alpha2delta receptors, along side numerous other drugs, sounds risky regardless.


I saw my psychiatrist today & she had an intern with her & I was explaining about how I think it might be the gabapentin & how gabapentin worked & they were both practically gushing over me knowing that. lol My psyche said her mind is always blown when she sees me because I know so much pharmacology knowledge. Told me I was "brilliant" and how I should go back to school. lol The thing is though is I only really have entry level pharmacology knowledge. lol Mostly from reading things myself & through experience with drugs.

So that's a pretty scary thought if a high-school drop out like me is blowing the minds of people who went to school for this stuff. lol

Alpha 2 adrenoreceptors are a type of GPCR that binds adrenaline (and clonidine), not the same as alpha2delta subunits of calcium channels that gabapentin binds to.

Are the PVCs starting to go away?

 

[MedicinalUser247]

You know, I was on gabapentin before and it never gave me Heart palpitations, but I guess everyones body is different.

 

[sludgekatana]

wow I've definitely experienced this sensation with gabapentin! a strange uncomfortable heart rhythm sensation. it freaks me out a little. it weirdly happens specifically when i lay or lean backwards? i've also experienced it with many stimulants, but not all of them. and this only started happening to me when i started messing with NDRI research chemical stimulants like NEP and Hexen. i specifically remember taking a large dose of NEP / Hexen mixed and feeling this sensation very strongly. ill have to look through my notes to see if i can find the actual first time it happened.

for a while i thought it was only the stims causing this, but it was right around that time i got a large amount of gabapentin. i love gabapentin, and i almost exclusively use it combined with stimulants. but at some point on the rare times i wasnt taking it with stimulants, i did notice that the heart thing happened anyways.

btw i only use stimulants a couple times a week max. but at this point, i take gabapentin every single time i take stimulants. the combination is just too enjoyable to pass up. also, since ive stopped messing with NDRIs ive experienced this sensation less frequently.

 

[paranoid android]

Gabapentin or lyrica never did this to me. If anything they help anxiety a tiny bit

 

[DeathIndustrial88]

Alpha 2 adrenoreceptors are a type of GPCR that binds adrenaline (and clonidine), not the same as alpha2delta subunits of calcium channels that gabapentin binds to.

Are the PVCs starting to go away?

Whoops.
I looked up alpha2delta but stupid google must've given me alpha 2 adrenoreceptors. My bad.
I'm glad you caught that.


Nah, still having them this morning actually.
The flip-flopping sensation has turned more into a squeezing/pinching sensation right under my sternum/top of my stomach.
It's driving me absolutely crazy, like I actually think I might lose my mind over this shit.

 

[DeathIndustrial88]

wow I've definitely experienced this sensation with gabapentin! a strange uncomfortable heart rhythm sensation. it freaks me out a little. it weirdly happens specifically when i lay or lean backwards? i've also experienced it with many stimulants, but not all of them. and this only started happening to me when i started messing with NDRI research chemical stimulants like NEP and Hexen. i specifically remember taking a large dose of NEP / Hexen mixed and feeling this sensation very strongly. ill have to look through my notes to see if i can find the actual first time it happened.

for a while i thought it was only the stims causing this, but it was right around that time i got a large amount of gabapentin. i love gabapentin, and i almost exclusively use it combined with stimulants. but at some point on the rare times i wasnt taking it with stimulants, i did notice that the heart thing happened anyways.

btw i only use stimulants a couple times a week max. but at this point, i take gabapentin every single time i take stimulants. the combination is just too enjoyable to pass up. also, since ive stopped messing with NDRIs ive experienced this sensation less frequently.

Interesting!
Yeah I'm definitely curious if you happen to look through your notes & have any more observations.

I used methamphetamine off & on from the ages of 15-33ish. And I even drank coffee ontop of it, had lots of sex/solo sessions on meth & also have severe anxiety in general. And even then I never experienced this before.

It only started after I got on gabapentin in the summer of 2021.
I actually quit meth & most stimulants shortly after getting on gabapentin too.

Still reluctant to believe that measly ol' caffeine would be causing this. If I was drinking excessive amounts of caffeine, sure. But even then heart palpitations from caffeine use tend to go away after the caffeine leaves your body, not last for months & months.

I honestly have no idea what's causing it at this point. Today is day 5 or 6 of no gabapentin & I'm still having them. And the sensation changed from a flip-flop/fluttering feeling into a squeezing/pinching type feeling. But it's the same duration. Comes on quick, only last like a second & then it's gone. But happens anywhere from 5-30+ times a day.

Only drugs I've been taking the past 6 days are Suboxone, cannabis & around 50mg of caffeine in the mornings. I smoke a lot of cigarettes as well, but I've always been this way. If it were cigs/weed/caffeine causing it, then I would have suddenly had to of developed some kind of intolerance to them, which doesn't make any sense to me.


I should also point out that my heart rate isn't necessarily fast or high when they happen. I can be sitting at my computer, regular heart rate & still get them.


I dunno what to do at this point besides call my idiotic, geriatric GP again in a month or so & say "Listen asshole, I tried everything you said & these PVCs are not going away, so I want more testing done", cause this is getting ridiculous.


I still think gabapentin had something to do with it though. Cause I was fine for 3 weeks until I took it again. And I've taken gabapentin along side quite a bunch of other drugs, from shrooms to epehedrine, to buproprion to dxm, etc.... It's possible one of these combinations injured my heart or threw it off rhythm some how. But all I can really do for now is speculate.

 

[DeathIndustrial88]

wow I've definitely experienced this sensation with gabapentin! a strange uncomfortable heart rhythm sensation. it freaks me out a little. it weirdly happens specifically when i lay or lean backwards? i've also experienced it with many stimulants, but not all of them. and this only started happening to me when i started messing with NDRI research chemical stimulants like NEP and Hexen. i specifically remember taking a large dose of NEP / Hexen mixed and feeling this sensation very strongly. ill have to look through my notes to see if i can find the actual first time it happened.

for a while i thought it was only the stims causing this, but it was right around that time i got a large amount of gabapentin. i love gabapentin, and i almost exclusively use it combined with stimulants. but at some point on the rare times i wasnt taking it with stimulants, i did notice that the heart thing happened anyways.

btw i only use stimulants a couple times a week max. but at this point, i take gabapentin every single time i take stimulants. the combination is just too enjoyable to pass up. also, since ive stopped messing with NDRIs ive experienced this sensation less frequently.

Oh yeah, I forgot to mention that I've noticed something too about the position I'm in.

If I'm slouching or bend over to tie my shoes or anything presses my chest in further, I'm more likely to get one.
I think this could be due to the chest wall being pressed closer to the heart, which means you feel the palpitation hitting your chest wall a lot harder.
So you could be having mild PVCs that you aren't aware of, until you lean back/lay down & your chest gets pressed closer to your heart.

But you're the 2nd person I've read about who mentioned positions causing it as well. The other person was on reddit & they mentioned that every time they took gabapentin, that they would get a heart palpitation if they were slouching or bending. So this is interesting to me.

Unfortunately mine happen no matter what position I'm in, even if I'm standing & walking. But I do notice that the position I'm in some times causes me to feel it more.

 

[DeathIndustrial88]

Trying not to let fear control my life, but it's difficult.

I'm actually getting more pissed over them than anything.

Been purposely running in place while smoking a cigarette & doing crazy shit to get my heart rate up, while telling "God" to just fucking kill me. Like seriously, just give me the fucking heart attack / cardiac arrest / sudden death / whatever's gonna happen & get it over with. I'd rather just drop dead now than put up with this stupid ass sensation the rest of my life, constantly wondering if one of these palpitations is gonna be the "big one" that kills me or fucks my heart up for good. So annoyed.

 

[JackARoe]

Trying not to let fear control my life, but it's difficult.

Hey you just triggered some memories I had 45 years ago. For a few months I became obsessed with heart rate, speed, and the thumps that sometimes happened in between. It is very true most PVC's resolve and are not serious. Worry about them of course triggers them. At that time I even remember some really silly study about which rock and roll bands cause someone to have an irregular heartbeat. (that whole notion is so ridiculous and the person who did the study probably hated youth and rock n roll. In fact the rock stations thought it was funny and that is where I heard that. BTW Led Zeppelin and The Doors were on the list lol This was early 1980's) Once I stopped thinking about it I would be ok. Doctors said I had a strong heart. But the heart is never a perfect beat. It is in order and speeds up when we breath in and slows as we exhale. You probably have a strong heart compared to a lot of people.

I mean the heart, of course it is concerning. Keep doing what you are doing death,. Also these things. Add more good magnesium to your diet. Some form of aerobics even walking. I also remember drinking hawthorn berry tea as it was said to strengthen the electrical signals in the heart or whatever I read. Funny that was from herb books. But that was a comforting thought. I have not googled that it has been so long. But the I liked the tea. I am willing to bet in 2 years this will just be a memory. But yeah reading your posts brought up a period I forgot about. I guess that is a good thing.

 

[DeathIndustrial88]

Hey you just triggered some memories I had 45 years ago. For a few months I became obsessed with heart rate, speed, and the thumps that sometimes happened in between. It is very true most PVC's resolve and are not serious. Worry about them of course triggers them. At that time I even remember some really silly study about which rock and roll bands cause someone to have an irregular heartbeat. (that whole notion is so ridiculous and the person who did the study probably hated youth and rock n roll. In fact the rock stations thought it was funny and that is where I heard that. BTW Led Zeppelin and The Doors were on the list lol This was early 1980's) Once I stopped thinking about it I would be ok. Doctors said I had a strong heart. But the heart is never a perfect beat. It is in order and speeds up when we breath in and slows as we exhale. You probably have a strong heart compared to a lot of people.

I mean the heart, of course it is concerning. Keep doing what you are doing death,. Also these things. Add more good magnesium to your diet. Some form of aerobics even walking. I also remember drinking hawthorn berry tea as it was said to strengthen the electrical signals in the heart or whatever I read. Funny that was from herb books. But that was a comforting thought. I have not googled that it has been so long. But the I liked the tea. I am willing to bet in 2 years this will just be a memory. But yeah reading your posts brought up a period I forgot about. I guess that is a good thing.

Thank you!

I really appreciate your words here. This has been incredibly difficult.
It's crazy you mention that about music, cause I listen to a lot of crazy noise/industrial stuff & the thought crossed my mind a few times if loud frequencies or noises could throw our hearts into an abnormal rhythm. But I'm not too sure. I don't think I could give up my love for music over it though. lol

Were you having PVCs back then as well? Did it take awhile for them to stop? I'm going on 3 months now of having them on & off (excluding the infrequent ones I was having over the past 2-3 years). I tried listening to some "heart healing" frequencies on Youtube today. I think most of it is BS, but oddly it did seem to help my anxiety & the palpitations a little. Which suggests to me a possible psychosomatic connection.

Did a little running in place & jumping jacks today too. I've heard that it's a bad sign if your PVCs happen more when you exercise. But so far I'm unable to tell if that's what's happening in my case. It does seem like exercise brings them on some times, but they're also so random & happen even when I'm doing nothing, that it could just be coincidence that they happen when I exercise as well.

I'll look into hawthorn! I really like tea anyway, so I'll check it out.
After I got out of the ER in early March, I started taking coQ10, magnesium, l-arginine & L-carnatine.
I'm not sure if any of it helped though & after taking all of it for a few weeks, I read that L-Carnatine long term can actually lead to heart disease, so I stopped taking that.

I hope you're right though & in a few years, I will have moved on past this & won't be dealing with it anymore.
I have severe anxiety, always have, but the palpitations are new to me & you're right, it's like a viscous cycle of having a PVC, then getting anxiety over it, which just causes another one & on & on. My heart beat was doing some weird things today too, like beating so heavily that it was making my chest/torso vibrate. I have no idea what's going on anymore but I'm trying to stay positive & thinking that in time my heart will correct itself. And then I can go back to living like a normal person.

Thanks again for your response!

 

[DeathIndustrial88]

"Vlog/notes for myself or anyone interested" -


Was having PVCs all morning.
Drank some club soda (with quinine being like the 4th ingredient) as I know quinine has anti-arrhythmic properties. Of course the amount in club soda isn't very much but placebo is a thing right?

Took a nap around 2pm cause I felt dead tired. Got up right before 4pm.
Woke up to pee twice during a 2hr nap. That was when I noticed my heart was racing & beating so hard that it was causing my whole torso to pulsate.
It almost reminded me of POTS syndrome, where people get tachycardia when they go from a sitting/laying position into standing up right. But this only seems to happen when I get really sedated from my suboxone & need a nap.
Went back to sleep for a bit.

Woke up. Pulsating heart beats were gone. I drank a Coconut Cream Dr. Pepper (with 58mg of caffeine). (Not worth the hype IMO, the coconut cream flavor is too artificial tasting).
Drank some pedialyte water shortly afterward (with electolytes, even though the ER said my electrolytes were fine back in Feb).
Did some more jogging in place & jumping jacks.

My PVCs by this point were starting to a feel a little more mild.
Ate chicken breast & asparagus for supper & then did some cleaning.

And then I noticed that the chest tightness & chest discomfort was gone altogether. And my heart beat was nice & normal, not too heavy or fast.
Usually on days when I'm having PVCs, I'll get chest tightness as well & a feeling that I can only describe as my aorta trying to pump a stick of butter through it.

Feeling fine now though. No chest discomfort & the intensity of the PVCs went down. I actually haven't had anymore PVCs in maybe 2hrs now. And the ones I did have after getting up from my nap were more mild than the ones I had this morning.

Of course I'm not going to get my hopes up or anything. But I'm really hoping I wake up one day & this shit is just gone for good.


People (including myself) take for granted the ability to drink an espresso or do some meth or psychedelics or going to the gym, without worrying that their heart is gonna drop at any moment. I'd give anything to go back to being able to be that type of person again. Hell, it's weird to think that not even 4 months ago, I WAS still that kind of person. I could drink an energy drink or jog in place for 20 minutes or go out to the store or go for a DXM trip & go about my day without thinking or worrying about my heart at all.

Something in February had to of set this off some how.

2 weeks before all of this started, I also had an infection in my lung & had to do a week & a half on prednisone & doxycycline. I had been having a low grade fever along with muscle/body weakness (like the kind you get when you have the flu) for 7 whole days. Except I had absolutely zero other symptoms. I ended up in the ER over that too & they tested me for covid & the flu & both came back negative. They couldn't find anything wrong at first on my x-ray's, but the next day they called me & said they found a "weird spot" in one of my lungs & recommended that I see my GP. Went to see my GP & he didn't do any extra testing & told me it was probably just a "pocket of infection". And he may have been right, cause that night I stared finally getting other symptoms, like a really wheezy cough. But the prednisone & doxycycline seemed to help it. No clue what kind of illness that was. I've never had a cold or a flu that made me feel weak for 7 days & THEN presented with coughing. But all of that went away after I finished the prednisone & antibiotic.

And then not even a week or so later after I finished those meds & was feeling better, this shit started. I don't know if maybe the prednisone or the antibiotic could have contributed some how? Doubt anyone could even truly know. But the weird thing was that the first night I took that prednisone... I kept getting weird sensations in my chest, but only at night when I was trying to sleep. Just before I'd fall asleep, it would feel like my heart was stopping several times in a row really fast, but then I'd come to & it would immediately stop. Never felt anything like that, but I assumed maybe it was just some kind of weird "sleep-start" or hypnic jerk thing & tried to forget about it.


So at one point in February, I was on Suboxone, gabapentin, prednisone, doxycyline, ephedrine & also had an albuterol inhaler. Was directed to hit the albuterol inhaler every 4hrs, which seems incredibly excessive, as I've had experience with albuterol inhalers in the past & they definitely speed the hell up out of your heart rate. Just one or two puffs on an albuterol inhaler would have my heart rate up for the entire rest of the day. I use to actually use albuterol in my 20's for weight loss & just to help open up my lungs when they were pretty cashed from smoking too much.
Anyways, but there were some days I did use the inhaler every 4hrs cause the wheezing was terrible.

Shit just sitting here typing this out, I wouldn't be surprised if the combination of prednisone, albuterol, ephedrine, gabapnentin & caffeine might have triggered this.
That wouldn't explain the PVCs I had prior to this though, but prior to this, they were SO infrequent that I wasn't such a nervous wreck over them. So I still think the gabapentin & ephedrine might have been at play, but throwing prednisone & albuterol into the mix might have been the final nail in the coffin that sent my heart out of whack.


I'm sure this is just total rambling to anybody else, but maybe there's an actual intelligent doctor out there roaming these boards & they'll find this & read it & maybe be able to connect some dots. lol

 

[JackARoe]

Were you having PVCs back then as well? Did it take awhile for them to stop? I'm going on 3 months now of having them on & off (excluding the infrequent ones I was having over the past 2-3 years). I tried listening to some "heart healing" frequencies on Youtube today. I think most of it is BS, but oddly it did seem to help my anxiety & the palpitations a little. Which suggests to me a possible psychosomatic connection.

Well I had the occasional thump in my chest that made me wonder if I had issues. When I was younger I did get caught in an obsession with my health. I took a lot of psychedelics and wanted to make sure I was healthy to keep doing that. So the times when the heart thumps or speeds up and slows down had me curious. Spun my head for about 8 months. Now here I am at 60. Never think about it, can take gabapentin and blast off on DMT. lol I mean that was the reason I would check my BP and heart rate. If my BP is up I skip DMT if it was planned. You don 't want to take DMT if you are worried!

I also remember the love songs, heart on a string, my heart flutters. I mean it was know that people's chest would thump when they saw someone they loved. The heart did flips and is in about 1 million songs.

Now my wife had PVC and a few other issues last year and actually needed a heart ablation. But she had the bad kind of speeding up and would pass out. She has two heart doctors, one said she had a massive heart attack the other says no. (freaking medical field!) Her heart tropins were over 3000 and that indicates heart damage but they argue over that. I told her not to worry. She has been feeling better and she takes occasional gabapentin.

Bottom line is once you realize you have a strong heart whatever is causing the stress will dissipate. There are stories of people living for a year with constant PVC and then stopped and went back to normal. But keep looking for the triggers. And this may sound silly but thank your heart. A thankful heart is healthier than worry. It is all a vibe. Your heart got you this far to read this post. Say thank you. And keep listening to what makes you happy when it comes to music. Luckly the spirit has nothing to do with the heart. Lift your spirits.

 

[DeathIndustrial88]

Okay, it's been over a week of quitting gabapentin & I'm still having them.

Although I only have about 2-10 big PVCs a day. Yesterday I only had 2 mild ones in the morning.


So I really still can't say for sure that gabapentin is the cause.


I also have a haital hernia & I've been reading that hiatal hernias can cause PVCs as well. Yet none of my doctors seemed to wanna investigate that.



I guess I'm just gonna have to get use to feeling this shit every day until I die. Really pisses me off. Just 6 months ago, I wouldn't have thought I'd have a heart problem & now here we are. I wish the fucking things would just kill me honestly. I hate the direction my life went anyway.

 

[Jen X]

Can someone tell me what pvc's are?

 

[DeathIndustrial88]

Can someone tell me what pvc's are?

Premature Ventricular Contractions.

Normally your heart has 2 chambers that send electrical signals back n forth to tell each other when to beat.

But with PVCs, your heart is sending out an electrical signal from a spot it's not suppose to (usually the Purkinje fibers). This electrical signal then tells one of the chambers to beat before it's suppose to. And since that chamber isn't completely full of blood yet when it gets the signal, it has to squeeze harder to pump & then it sort of resets itself back to your normal rhythm.

This causes a sensation at the top of my stomach, right under my sternum, that feels like my heart just stopped for a second. Some times it feels like a flip-flopping sensation & other times it feels like something's being squeezed. So even though it feels like my heart is missing beats, it's technically an "extra beat".

The sensation only lasts like 1 second. But some times they're so intense that it takes my breath away or causes me to have panic attacks.

And I've been feeling these damn things anywhere from twice to fifty times a day, since February.